The Niland Collection

Artists in the Collection

Ferenc Martyn

Born 1899, Kapsovár, HungaryDied 1986, Hungary

Ferenc Martyn (1899-1986) was born in Kaposvár, Hungary. His great-grandfather had emigrated to Hungary from County Galway sometime around the year 1800. In the 1920’s he exhibited in France, Belgium and England as a member of the Paris-based group Abstraction-Creation. Martyn also illustrated editions of Flaubert, and Cervante. In 1982 he produced 24 illustrations for an edition of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ published to coincide with the centenary of the writer’s birth.

Martyn’s Abstract Composition playfully combines the innovations of Cubism and Surrealism with his own semi-abstract style.

His first master was József Rippl-Rónai. He learned art in Paris where he joined the group Abstraction – Création. In 1940, he returned to Hungary and settled down in Pécs. With his pictures, he wanted to understand and express the wholeness of his world. He was familiar with portrayal based on thorough observation, constructively, geometrical and spontaneous abstraction and managed to arrest views, memories and messages in painting and drawing. His colours and forms are borrowed from music and folk culture. He worked with plastic art and ceramics.